The College of Staten Island men’s basketball team used one of their finest shooting performances of the season, streaking past York College by a 101-84 score on Alumni Day at the Sports & Recreation Center. The game came on the heels of the 7th Annual Matty White Alumni Game, and the win catapulted the Dolphins to a perfect 12-0 overall and their 9th-straight win on the season. They are 15-6 overall while York fell to 2-18 overall and 2-10 in the CUNYAC.
Back-to-back three’s by Edin Bracic and Robert Rossiter got CSI started nicely, and out to a quick 10-4 edge before the visiting Cardinals punched back, taking a 15-14 lead on a Edwin Sainvil three seven minutes into the frame. The teams then exchanged the lead three times before CSI unleashed a 15-4 run that spanned over four minutes, giving them a more buoyant 37-25 edge. Frank Schettino accounted for 9 points in the run, ending it with a three-pointer. Another three by Bracic would give CSI its biggest lead of the half, 44-29, before York settled in and knocked the deficit to 50-39 at the break.
To that point the Dolphins were shooting a robust 64% from the field, hitting four out of five from beyond the arc.
The Dolphins didn’t shoot the ball nearly as well in the second frame, but it did not matter, as CSI started the frame on a 12-6 spurt that afforded them a 62-45 edge. Robert Rossiter nailed back-to-back buckets the second resulting a three-point play in the run. Later in the frame, freebies by Kevon Murphy ballooned the lead to 68-47, and from there the Dolphins kept a comfortable arm’s length from the Cardinals. Schettino flirted with another triple-double, coming two rebounds shy as he exited the game with about four minutes to play as the game seemed well in hand.
CSI led in the second half by as many as 25 points, 83-58. York used a 10-2 run to end the game over the last two and a half minutes to bring the final to 101-84. CSI took both meetings over the Cardinals this season.
Schettino finished with 13 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds for the Dolphins. Khaleeq Baum led the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Bracic finished with 17 points. All five CSI starters finished in double figures, as Murphy added 14 and Rossiter 12. Jean Joseph led York with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Sainvil finished with 18 points. The Dolphins were a +3 in the turnover column and out-rebounded the Cardinals, 40-36. The Dolphins finished the game shooting 55.6% from the floor, holding the Cardinals to 45.9%.
The Dolphins will put their CUNYAC unbeaten streak on the line, and will have a chance to lock in the No. 1 seed in the CUNYAC standings, when they face off against Medgar Evers College on Tuesday evening at the Sports & Recreation Center at 7:30pm.
